Prevention Components

In the realm of classroom management, three primary strategies stand at the forefront of prevention: Active Supervision, Precorrection, and Opportunities to Respond. These strategies form the core of a proactive approach to fostering a positive learning environment and minimizing disruptions.

Active Supervision

Begin by viewing this video: Employ Active Supervision (5:24)

Active supervision is often described as being present physically and mentally in the classroom in order to be aware of what is going on, while creating opportunities to interact with students. This can happen in many ways. The teacher should move around the classroom, looking for appropriate and inappropriate behavior, while interacting with students. The teacher can be giving feedback, having conversations, acknowledging positive behavior, or giving precorrections (De Pry & Sugai, 2002). Active supervision is one way to prevent minor behaviors that collectively detract from significant teaching time, as it always takes less time to prevent a behavior than responding to it (Hayden et al., 2019).

For additional information:

• Listen to this podcast on Two Essential Keys of Active Supervision (6:26)

Precorrections

Begin by viewing this video: Using Precorrection (0:23)

Precorrection is a prevention strategy defined as giving a specific prompt prior to students engaging in the situation where a problem behavior is likely to show up. Implementing precorrections requires the teacher to take the time to identify predictable behavior and the context in which that behavior occurs, modify the context to allow for a prompting plan, practice the desired behavior, and then reinforce the appropriate outcome (Ennis et al., 2018). In practice, this might look like a teacher knowing that there is often difficulty when it comes to transitioning to recess. The teacher can verbally prompt what is coming next, along with the precorrection about the expected behavior. “It is almost time to go to recess. Put your materials in your desk, then when I give the signal, you will quietly stand up, push in your chair, and line up at the door with hands to yourself.”

For additional information:

• Listen to this podcast on Precorrection. (13:08)
• Use this tool as a Precorrection Checklist.

Opportunity to Respond

Begin by viewing this video: Pinch Cards that Engage All Students (5:56)

Opportunities to respond is a strategy used during instruction to increase engagement with the content through responses from both individuals and the whole group. Responses can be verbal, nonverbal, written, or collected through the use of technology. It is important to vary the methods of response. Research has shown that increasing opportunities to respond decreases disruptive behavior, increases engagement, and increases correct responses (Haydon et al., 2012). It is important to incorporate a variety of relevant questions and ensure that all students are involved and responding. Teachers can also use the information solicited from responses to make formative decisions about whether it is time to move on to new material or come back to a review and additional practice.

For additional information to increase multiple opportunities to respond, check out:

• This article on how to Increase Opportunities to Respond.
• The resources on Strategy: Increasing Opportunities to Respond.